*****
Thank you M.E., Masterson at Adventures of Our Life blog for hosting a seed
giveaway, and selecting my blog as a recipient to receive seeds. I'm so looking
forward to planting the seeds in my garden, once we get it totally situated for
planting.

*****
Bulldog Man and I started creating a fruit orchard this year by planting 4
trees (1 Honey crisp apple, 1 Early plum, and 2 peach.... Summer Prince #5, and
Majestic). We placed fencing around each tree to keep the deer away.Next spring, we will add 4 to 6
additional trees. Before doing
this, we'll need to remove a couple of red cedar trees. That is a large job,
requiring the removal of the roots as well.

*****
The area Bulldog and I cleared for a vegetable garden is coming along nicely.
We've tilled the area about three times, and I used a hard tine rack to remove
rocks and hard balls of red clay. We've outlined the garden area with twine and
stakes to set a line for installing T-Posts and 2x4. Once this is finished
we'll install the fencing 8 foot high, and bury chicken wire to prevent
critters from getting in the garden.

*****
It's that time of year when I need all kitchen knives sharpened. Bulldog Man
has the old fashion sharpening stone to use for sharpening knives. Tank offered
Bulldog Man use of his electric knife sharpener; this sped up the knife
sharpening process. It's nice to have knives that cut; the only
downfall......is to remember they're no longer dull. Yes.....I cut my
finger....nothing a good old band aid can't take care of.

*****
For those of you who can't deal with killing critters you may want to stop
reading NOW!!!
Last fall, a wild rat dug a hole under our garage door and made himself at
home. For months we tried to catch the rat with total failure. This particular
rat loved natural oils whereas every other rat or mouse hated peppermint oil.
Every evening after dinner we would set those large wooden rat traps with bait
(peanut butter) and each morning the rat ate the bait and avoided getting
trapped. This went on for days, and then we graduated to the glue traps. The
rat would get stuck on the glue trap and
literally pull himself off the trap leaving skin and hair behind. Since this
didn't work it was time to try something else.................

We purchased a bait hotel designed for rats.
Placed the bait in the hotel, and stored the remaining bait on a shelf in a
plastic bag in the shop/garage. The rat ate the bait in the hotel, picked up
the hotel and threw it across the garage. He then proceeded to knock the extra
stored bait off the shelf, and ate the plastic bag, box, bait, and left us a
little bit of cardboard. Mr. Rat didn't die, it was time to put our heads
together and try something else. We setup a live trap with bait. The damn rat
knew how to hold the trap to prevent getting caught and he ate the bait. We
even went as far as just putting a smear of peanut butter on the bottom side of the metal bait holder so the rat would have to work at getting the bait
in hopes the trap would capture him.....NO LUCK!!!!

Tank suggested placing some coca cola in an
old cake pan; because he heard rats will drink the coke and die because they
couldn't burp the bubbles out. We setup an old cake pan with coke......the rat
enjoyed the coke, he drank it all..........no dead rat!!!

Frustrated, I remember watching a video from
a Vlogger friend over at Red Tool House who talks about a wildlife critter
killing chickens and taking eggs. I responded to his video in the comment
field, and explained the problem we were dealing with regarding a rat. One of
his followers, Hyder Enterprises, suggested we use the following mixture to kill
the rat, because it works for him all the time; equal parts sugar, baking soda,
and flour. The sugar and flour attract the rat to eat the bait, and the baking
soda creates a gas in the digestive system which blows the stomach up
internally. We setup the concoction, and it worked!!!!!

The rat stole tools, created a large nest
inside Tank's toolbox; he chewed wires on electrical tools, and ruined all
kinds of stuff.
Good riddens Mr. Rat!!!!!!

*****
Below are a few pictures and a video proof spring has rolled in, I hope you like
them.

What a lot of hard work you and the boys have done! I am no fan of rats, period. As far as I'm concerned, the only good rat is a dead one. Thanks for the concoction - I like that it is not poison bait. Is there a certain ratio you use? It's nice to see spring appearing somewhere - it certainly isn't here! Hugs to you, my friend. xo

Susan,There's always hard work to be done on the homestead...and I know your always working hard yourself. Oh girl, I agree totally...a good rat is a dead one. As for the concoction on the mixture use equal amounts of each item. My mixture combo was 1/2 cup flour, 1/2 cup baking soda, and 1/2 cup sugar. Mixed well, I put half of this mixture on a plastic garbage lid (and reserved the other half in a plastic bag just in case I had to lay it out another day) and for the heck of it, I put a teaspoon of sugar on top of the pile placed on the lid to entice that damn rat. This comb work for us, the next day he was dead.Signs of spring are apparent however, temperatures keep dropping.

Life of a Homesteader, the never ending "To Do" list. It made me tired just reading it! Hope your garden grows well and provides plenty of food for you.As for the Rat, he reminds me of a typical politician, almost impossible to get rid of!

Mike,Agreed, the list is never ending. The more I look at the list I become frustrated because it just keeps growing.Your comment of the rat reminding you of a politician was dead on.....excuse my pun!

Excellent catch up post Sandy - you all have a lot going on and every bit of it is productive! I was interested to hear about the rat bait. We have lots of mice and occasionally rats too, but lately they've been stealing the peanut butter out of the traps without getting caught! We'll have to try your recipe.

Sorry for the delayed response. The rat bait is equal parts sugar, baking soda, and flour mixed together. I put a little bit of sugar over the top to attract the critter. Give it several hours to a day or two and they'll just drop dead. They'll be not more rat taking stuff or destroying it.

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